So you’ve decided it’s time to get serious about journaling? Congratulations! I know it can feel like a ginormous, overwhelming ball of stress buckets at the moment – and that’s normal. Staring at a blank page in your journal (you have your journal, right?) is like waiting for that cute guy you gave your number too… well, nevermind – just remember, we’ve all been there.
You may have decided to start journaling for your health, weight loss journey, or simply to get you through a tough time in your life. Regardless of the reason, getting started may be the toughest step to take towards routine journaling. One way you can get started on the right foot is by using journaling prompts.
These are questions or ideas that you can begin writing to develop the routine of journaling. Using the prompts helps cure that “what am I supposed to write” brainfreeze and gets you into your writing groove. Here are a few fun journaling prompts that can get anyone started.
1. What Would You Do If
Prompts that start off with the phrase, “What would you do if…”, tend to lead to fun discoveries about yourself (okay yes, sometimes disturbing too – but fun!). You can find out how you would handle a situation before you actually have to do it, which is very helpful if you have a tendency to fumble in certain situations. These prompts can be as dull or as fun as you want them to be, just remember what they do. They actually can show a lot about your personality, your reasoning skills, and critical thinking. You may never actually be faced with what you would do if 100 mice got free in a pet store you managed, but you will find out if you think logically in a high stress situation.
2. If You Were
If you were prompts can range from very serious questions, like “If you were a lawyer…”, to very funny questions like “If you had the last ice cream bar on earth…”. The idea behind these prompts is to help you work out situations and see them from both sides. Some journaling enthusiasts call this type of a prompt the King Solomon prompt because you end up viewing it from both sides and actually thinking about what you would do if you were king or in charge of laws. These are ideal if you are a political or history buff, or just want to let your inner control-freak out to play.
3. Describe Your Dream Life
Description based prompts, especially ones that deal with your dream life, are very popular. These prompts help you work through what things are important to you and help you find out what things do not matter after certain issues in your life have been conquered. Ideally these prompts are written so they can be reviewed at a later date. You review the post then look back and see what things no longer matter to you, and rewrite the post. Compare the two to see the differences in your lifestyle and viewpoints. These can also be part of your positive thinking and visualization exercises.
You can use prompts once in a while, weekly, or even daily. There are some prompts that are specific to your goals, or you can go with random journaling prompts. You may also want to consider journals that are nothing but prompts. Whatever you choose, prompts are always there for you… like your best friends hugs, chocolate and elastic waistbands.
Go forth and journal, and I’ll see you on the other side 🙂
